Happy Birthday
by Thee Slushee
Summary: REVAMPED! Jin is standing on a beach, Xiaoyu's preparing for her party. A chance encountering causes secrets to be told and a romance to build. Xiaoyin. R and R!


**A/N: Hey everybody! I felt I should really do this story up coz it had just come to me how unbelievably hard it was to read AND the incredible shortness so I thought that this story was majorly overdue for a revamp! And…forgot to mention this earlier…but the idea for this story came up while I was randomly listening to the song "Love Will Keep Us Alive" by the Eagles. It's a really nice song, beautiful guitar…but yeah, just thought u should randomly know :P Hope u like this improvement to the original story! And for those who haven't read it before, I hope u like it!**

**Happy Birthday**

_Jin POV_

It was September 15th…normally, I didn't keep track of the days that fly by. A day was just like every other day, leading an ongoing, monotone life on the run. I was constantly changing the places I stay at, always had to worry if people could identify me, always looking over my shoulder as if a Tekken Force troop would suddenly leap out of nowhere when I wasn't looking…it wasn't easy leading a life of complete paranoia. I sometimes wonder if this is how I'll spend the rest of my life…

But the reason why this day stuck out to me was because today was no normal day. Today was Xiaoyu's 19th birthday. When she first came to Japan, I wasn't particularly excited with having her around. She was so young, innocent, bubbly and had an incredible amount of energy. She always wore such vibrant colours and had a default hairstyle of two pigtails; most people would think she was younger than she actually was. At first, I thought she was just acting childish so I didn't really interact with her much. Later, I've come to see that she was a kind person, with a smile that was capable of lightening the most dampened spirits. Xiaoyu and I eventually got along and became good friends, probably one of the only real friends I've ever had. When I heard she came for the tournament, I was a little doubtful and slightly concerned for Xiaoyu being able to compete at a tournament of this level. She was just a young girl and there would be participants in this tournament who would go to any lengths to make sure that they got through to the next round. But I underestimated her skills, just as everyone else did at the tournament. She was incredibly fast and her fighting style was so elegant and acrobatic. Her attacks carried the grace of a dancer but the ferocity of a warrior.

After the third tournament, all that I would think about day and night was my hatred towards my family, my blood, _everything _related to the Mishimas. I even unlearned the fighting style that took four years of my life to master. But within the hatred towards the Mishima family was anger at myself. I would always think: "How could I be so naive! How could I just trust Heihachi without a second thought?"…I guess it was because of the whole imaginary concept I had in my mind that family wouldn't hurt each other. When I went back to the fourth tournament, nothing more was in my mind other than exacting my revenge on Heihachi for betraying me. And that's where I saw Xiaoyu for the first time in two years. She had changed so much. The only way I identified her was because of her trademark hairstyle. I had warned her to stay away from this tournament through email…but I suppose I had just given her a reason to come. I felt so bad that I couldn't say anything to her about what happened. I could tell that she was hurt because of that…but what was I supposed to tell her? Heihachi betrayed me and shot me in the head but I survived by changing into this uncontrollable creature? I don't think there's any way I could tell her the truth…I don't want to scare her away.

I felt that the only way to make sure I didn't change around her was to make sure I wasn't around her. I completely avoided her in the fourth tournament. I wanted her to finally give up on trying to talk to me and just forget about me. It'd be better for her, since there wouldn't be any risk of me hurting her. But it had the complete opposite effect. She wanted to do anything to try and help me…and that's when I found out about her little time machine plot in the fifth tournament, when we had to verse each other. I was trying to be as cold as I possibly could towards her so she would think that I was a lost cause and just forget about it…but it only fueled her determination even more. It was all the more harder to defeat her…but it had to be done…

But with the 5th tournament gone, I should just disappear off the face of the earth once again until the next tournament arrives right? But instead I'm here, standing on this sandy beach just as the sun departs over the horizon, still in Japan. Why am I here? I…I want to see Xiaoyu again. A big part of me says: "NO! You can't see Xiao! You'll put her in serious danger! Not only by the Tekken force discovering you and Heihachi seeing that he could use her to get what he wants from you, but also the devil inside you! She could die by your hands!" There is a little part of me (very little, but not non-existent) that desperately wants to see her, just to hold her in my arms...and that little part seemed to overrule what the most of me says, as I am here right now…

I have found that after the two years I've been away, Xiaoyu has changed...Xiaoyu has changed _a lot._ When I saw her for the first time, she was no longer the young, innocent girl who was like a little sister to me. She had matured into a woman but yet still retained the innocence of her younger self. I felt myself being drawn towards her but I had to shake the feeling off since I was trying to avoid her. The feeling still remained though…and on more than one occasion, I have thought, just thought that it could be love. I shook the thought off immediately. There's no way it could be love. She's a great friend of mine, someone that is probably one of the only people I could trust. And besides…there's no way she'd feel that way about me. I left her for two years without a word. She has every right to be angry – not just angry, absolutely FURIOUS with me.

_Just leave right now, leave before its too late…_The voice in my head was constantly yelling back. I didn't know what to do anymore. I closed my eyes and listened to the waves hiss onto the shore and then ebb away, hoping they would provide the answers I need. I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the golden sun, now half covered by the shimmering ocean, reflecting the orangey yellow colours. My eyes traveled up towards the sky, now painted with beautiful blends of pink, light blue and orange. _Xiao would've loved to see this…_I subconsciously thought.

_Xiaoyu POV_

_Balloons…check,_ I thought to myself as I looked up at the pink and red balloons that I pinned on the wall with a few pink crepe streamers dangling from every bunch. I made my way towards the wooden breakfast bar of the kitchen and started counting all the drinks and bags of chips I bought just twenty minutes ago. I strolled towards my 17" TV (hey, it's not much…but it was what I could afford out of the wages I get from working at an ice cream parlour) and checked through my DVD stash for the planned movie night for the umpteenth time. Feeling satisfied, I hurried to my bedroom and closed my room door to reveal a full sized mirror. I examined my reflection critically. I wore a red, sparkly strapless dress that flared out from my waist in nice pleats that stop short above my knees. Red sparkly bracelets adorned my wrists and my hair was up in my infamous two pigtail hairstyle instead this time they were tied as two buns with the same material as my dress. The only item completely out of place was my white fluffy bunny slippers. Hey, I wasn't going to wear really expensive footwear _in _my house. It would ruin the nice flooring! I don't want to ruin my new house! Yeah, this beach house is now my new place…well, it's mine until the owners come back here for holidays but it's a start. It took quite a while for me to save enough money to get this place. I finally can do whatever I want without some grouchy person living a floor underneath me going "Keep it down up there!"

I opened the door and examined my house from top to bottom, re-checking my house probably for the third time. As everything has been accounted for and absolutely ready, I plonked myself on the two seater couch of my living room and sighed. Everything was ready and there was still a couple of hours to go before everyone comes! At this time, Panda made her way towards me, sitting down at my feet and looking up at me with her beady black eyes.

"Everything's ready, Panda…but we have 2 hours left," I informed my furry companion with not quite the amount of enthusiastic energy as I should have. Panda sensed this and nuzzled my legs, giving me a questioning look.

"Nothing's wrong, Panda. Everyone from the tournament is coming before they go back to their own countries, which is really cool. Why shouldn't I be happy?" I answered. Panda tilted her head to one side, still staring at me.

"Well…ok. There is one thing that is bothering me…" I stood up and gazed out the living room window, showing me a beautiful view of the sea. I could still feel Panda's eyes watching my every move.

"The one person I really want to be here…isn't going to be." I said simply. Panda nodded with complete understanding. _Jin…_I snapped myself out of my trance and looked back at Panda.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk." I said, walking past Panda and towards the door.

"I won't be gone long," I called, slipping my yellow jandals on and throwing on a white furry jacket (of course it's not real! I'm a firm supporter of anti-real fur usage in the fashion industry). With that, I closed the door and wandered out onto the beach.

As I strolled along the beach, I took notice of my footsteps leaving imprints in the golden sands. But then as I look back, the footprints which symbolized my presence on this beach were washed away by the incoming waves, wiping out any trace that I was even here. It was just like Jin…every moment I was with him, it definitely impacted on me and left a memory, whether it was good or bad. But then, when he just disappears; it was just as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth, like he had never existed…just like the footprints being engulfed by the waves. I suddenly stopped in my tracks and shook my head briskly. Since when did I start being so philosophical and start comparing little things like footprints to Jin? I guess it was because I miss him…

I miss the old days, back during the third tournament when me and him were good friends. It was strange at the time since when I first moved in, Jin didn't interact with anyone at school, despite him having his own fanclub of girls that would die if he glanced at her, and being respected by most of the guys because of his martial arts skills. Why did he not have friends when he was so popular? I asked myself and from then on, I made it my goal to make sure he had at least one friend…me. Sure, he didn't really want anything to do with me when I first tried to talk to him…but eventually, after constant persistence, he let me in…well, at least I thought he did. We became good friends and sparring partners for the tournament. Secretly, I also had a schoolgirl crush on him…but not just because of his looks. He was a really sweet person and a great listener when I needed to vent out some emotions. In time, I fell for him, just like all of the other girls at my school.

What really hurt me was when he just left after the third tournament without a word. I remember wishing him luck before he went in to fight his grandfather…but he never came back out. I was so worried, I thought something might've happened to him in there but the officials wouldn't let me through because it was an official battle and no one could interfere. Afterwards, I was constantly on the lookout to see if Jin would give me any sort of sign that he was all right…unfortunately that never came and I thought he might've been dead…or he might've just forgotten about me. Eventually, I moved on with my life, the wellbeing of Jin pushed right to the back of my mind. It was when I got that anonymous email two years later that I thought that it could be Jin. I was ecstatic; finally knowing that he's not dead and that he's all right…it was warning me not to enter the fourth tournament and not to trust Heihachi. I believed in the message and started to distrust Heihachi, but there was no way I'm going to back out of the tournament just because he said so. It might be dangerous, but when has it not been? And besides, it's an opportunity to see Jin again and catch up with him…and possibly give him a lecture on why he didn't tell me he was all right earlier

But I never saw him, not even once at the fourth tournament. Every time I thought I saw him, he would always disappear a second later. It was as if he was trying to avoid me…and then it hit me. Was the reason he left without a word because of me? Was the email telling me to stay out of the tournament just because he didn't want to see me again? At first, I dismissed the thought. Jin wouldn't go to all this trouble just to get away from me…and if so, what could I have possibly done to make him act like this? But the possibility of the thought grew as the days passed and I started to blame myself for Jin's disappearance. Not too much after the fourth tournament, a few troops from Heihachi's private little army tried to kill me! They would've done so too if Mr. Yoshimitsu hadn't intervened. I always thought Mr. Yoshimitsu was a bit of an oddball, since he didn't look remotely human, and his voice didn't prove otherwise either. He always looked completely different in every single tournament and I would always identify him as the one that looked kind of alienish. Anyway, after he saved my life, Mr. Yoshimitsu told me all about the history of the Mishima family and I now had a deeper understanding of the horrors going on there…and I began to understand Jin's disappearance. Too bad I had to hear it from Mr. Yoshimitsu and not Jin…

I felt that every event has been triggered from one thing: Heihachi throwing Kazuya off the cliff all those years ago. I wanted to reverse the process so it wouldn't have happened and Jin would've lived a normal life. I met a scientist who said he could make a time machine if he had the money, which gave me more than enough reason to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. This time, I saw Jin…in fact, I had to verse him! What really annoyed me was that he was treating me like I was a child, thinking that I couldn't defend myself. I wouldn't be in these tournaments if I _couldn't _defend myself! He was probably looking out for me…and there was all kinds of crazy supernatural stuff surrounding this tournament. But still! I was more than capable of protecting myself should I be in any danger! We launched into our battle and unfortunately, Jin beat me. Oh well…I did try my best…I guess there's no changing what happened in the past.

I stopped walking and turned to face the sunset, closing my eyes and feeling a soft breeze glide past me. I opened my eyes again to see a beautiful sunset, making me even more certain that I picked the perfect place to stay! I saw a hooded figure out of the corner of my eye and I turned to look at him. A smile reached the corners of my lips. My guess is that he came to take refuge here. It can be a temporary escape from reality. As I stared at the figure, I began to see some familiarity in him. Did I know him from somewhere? I crept closer towards him, careful not to alarm him.

_Third person_

_Xiao would've loved to see this,_ Jin subconsciously thought to himself as he stared on at the sunset. His recently developed sharp hearing picked up a few footsteps setting into the sand only a few meters away from him. He responded by quickly spinning around to meet the suspect and he gasped at who he saw.

"Jin? Is that you?" Xiaoyu asked, squinting into the darkness of his hood. Jin froze on the spot, taking down his hood. _Damn! Now you can't get yourself out of this…You had the chance to walk away and you blew it,_ the annoying voice in Jin's head scolded._ Well don't just stand there gaping like an idiot! Say something!_

"Xiao? What are you doing here?" Jin blurted out

"I live here," Xiaoyu stated, crossing her arms. "What are _you_ doing here?" Xiaoyu interrogated.

"Well, I – uh…well, I," the words struggled to come out of Jin's mouth. Xiaoyu looked so beautiful in the dress she wore…it made her seem so much older yet it mixed perfectly with the Xiaoyu he had met at the third tournament.

Jin averted his eyes away from Xiaoyu. "I…was just thinking whether I should see you or not." Jin said quietly. The answer surprised Xiaoyu and she just stared at him in surprise for a few seconds.

"Really? You came here to see me?" Xiaoyu repeated. Jin nodded, still looking away from Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu's reaction immediately changed and her eyebrows creased in anger.

"Well, you sure picked a great time to finally want to see me, after you've completely ignored me in the fourth tournament and saying minimal things to me in the fifth!" Xiaoyu said, placing her hands firmly on her waist. Jin's eyes met Xiaoyu's, seeing hurt amongst all the anger she showed.

"It was complicated…" Jin began.

"Oh, I know how complicated it is. Yoshimitsu told me the whole thing. I only wonder why YOU didn't tell me this and I had to hear it from someone as random as Yoshimitsu?" Xiaoyu continued on her rant.

"The thing is that – "

"AND how come you didn't tell me that you were all right as soon as the tournament was over? I was constantly waiting for any sort of sign that you were alive but since I didn't get one until two years later, I thought you were dead!"  
"I didn't want to scare you away ok?" Jin shouted, silencing Xiaoyu immediately before she could fire any more questions at him. Jin took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"The thing is…I didn't know about my family for long either. When I did, I figured it was best that nobody should know about…what I am. And the whole reason I avoided you during the fourth tournament? I wanted you to give up trying to talk to me so you'd forget about me. I realized that I couldn't control the devil inside me and if it ever took hold when you were around…I'd never be able to forgive myself," Every word Jin saidoozed with sincerity. Xiaoyu was touched by what Jin said, a small smile appearing on her face.

"And also, Heihachi has been hunting me down. You're in a lot of danger just by being with me now. He could use you to get what he wants from me and I don't want you to get hurt because of me," Jin continued.

"What does he want from you?" Xiaoyu asked, anxiety filling her.

"He wants my devil gene…he wants to kill me to get my gene and fuse it with his." Jin seethed, fists slowly closing at his sides at the thought of Heihachi. Xiaoyu gasped at what Jin said, a hand reflexively brought to her mouth.

"He wants to kill you?" Xiaoyu repeated.

"Not just him…so does Kazuya." Jin continued, finally pouring out all the secrets he's had with him for what felt like an eternity. Xiaoyu shook her head in disbelief.

"T-They can't _both _want you dead." Xiaoyu said.

"But they do…that's the Mishima family." Jin said grimly. Xiaoyu became silent but soon, soft sobs were heard from her, hands clenched tightly at her sides. Jin noticed this and his brows knotted in confusion.

"Xiao? What's wrong?" Jin asked concern evident in his voice.

"I'm…I'm so selfish!" Xiaoyu said in between sobs. Jin stared at her in surprise.

"Selfish?" He repeated questioningly. She looked up at him with glassy eyes and a tear streaked face.

"I was only concerned about how _I_ felt about you just leaving without a word and it never occurred to me that you probably had massive problems of your own and that you simply didn't have enough time to think about me…I should've been more considerate." Xiaoyu hung her head once again, more sobs escaping her.

"No…" Jin said softly, cupping her chin with both hands and lifting her face to meet eye contact.

"Xiao, I thought about you a lot…you were probably one of the only reasons for not going out and killing myself so neither Heihachi or Kazuya could get what they want." Jin said truthfully in the softest tone he had ever heard himself speak.

"And you're not selfish. You are one of the nicest, kind-hearted, most un-selfish people I know," Jin continued, his comments making Xiaoyu smile. "and I know some pretty selfish people," Jin added, earning a small giggle from Xiaoyu, a small smile forming on his face. Without a second thought, Xiaoyu wrapped her arms around Jin, catching him off guard.

"Thank you for coming to see me. It means so much to me that you came _today_." Xiaoyu whispered into his ear. Xiaoyu pulled away from Jin, with her arms still around Jin's neck.

"Which reminds me…where's my present?" Xiaoyu joked, one of her trademark smiles appearing on her face. Jin couldn't help but chuckle…she was still the same Xiaoyu. He tucked some loose strands of Xiaoyu's fringe behind her ears and moved in for a kiss. The two engaged in a passionate kiss, all the love that was bottled up for years released in that one kiss.

"Happy birthday, Xiao." Jin whispered when they eventually broke off the kiss and time seemed to freeze as they were both in the arms of the one they love.

**A/N: Woah! Soo much longer than the original…and soooo much better! I can't believe people didn't say anything about how hard to read it was, coz I was squinting at the screen wen I read it for the first time in ages! Well, I hope you guys liked this story, coz I sure enjoyed re-writing it and making it sooo much better! And with I believe, I'm still battling the laziness to update it…kinda lost the mojo to keep going with that fic. I want to so I don't disappoint readers but I'm just…lazy! I'm soo sorry! Theres also hmwk and stuff at school so that can be my other excuse for now.**

**Just review and tell me what ya'll think!**


End file.
